THE SERBIAN FUTURE TENSE (BUDUÄE VREME) - Larisa Zlatic's ...
THE SERBIAN FUTURE TENSE (BUDUÄE VREME) - Larisa Zlatic's ...
THE SERBIAN FUTURE TENSE (BUDUÄE VREME) - Larisa Zlatic's ...
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1<br />
<strong>THE</strong> <strong>SERBIAN</strong> <strong>FUTURE</strong> <strong>TENSE</strong> (BUDUĆE <strong>VREME</strong>)<br />
There are three ways to make future tense. Formula 1 is the easiest, Formula 3 is the hardest,<br />
but it’s the most commonly used. Don’t give up! Learn Formula 1 or 2 first and then later tackle<br />
Formula 3.<br />
FORMULA 1:<br />
PRESENT <strong>TENSE</strong> OF HTETI ‘WANT’ + INFINITIVE VERB<br />
The present tense of ‘hteti’, meaning ‘want’ or ‘will’ is discussed in more details in the section that<br />
deals with present tense of irregular verbs. For convenience, below I provide the table of all<br />
present tense forms of ‘hteti’. The infinitive verb is the verb that is listed in the dictionary.<br />
Table 1: Present tense of 'hteti’ want/will<br />
Person Short (clitic) forms Full (non-clitic) forms<br />
Ja (I) ću hoću<br />
Ti (you) ćeš hoćete<br />
On/ona/ono (he/she/it će hoće<br />
Mi (we) ćemo hoćemo<br />
Vi (you) ćete hoćete<br />
Oni/one/ona (they) će hoće<br />
Note: To make future tense, we need to use clitic (short or unaccented)<br />
forms of ‘hteti’<br />
Table 2: Examples of future tense using Formula 1<br />
The examples below mean ‘I/you/he/… will go’<br />
Person ‘hteti’ Infinitive verb<br />
ići (go)<br />
Ja (I) ću Ići<br />
Ti (you) ćeš ići<br />
On/ona/ono (he/she/it) će ići<br />
Mi (we) ćemo ići<br />
Vi (you) ćete ići<br />
Oni/one/ona (they) će ići<br />
©<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic<br />
<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic Language Services<br />
http://www.studyserbian.com
2<br />
The second way to make the future tense is to add the clitic forms of ‘hteti’ to the infinitive stem:<br />
FORMULA 2:<br />
INFINITIVE STEM + PRESENT <strong>TENSE</strong> OF HTETI ‘WANT’<br />
Note that this formula is somewhat a reverse of Formula 1, except that we have an infinitive stem,<br />
not the whole infinitive verb.<br />
What is the infinitive stem?<br />
Infinitive stem = infinitive verb (what is listed in the dictionary) minus infinitive ending: -<br />
iti/eti/ati.<br />
Please refer to the present tense file for more details.<br />
Formula 2 is used only if there is no expressed subject, i.e., the subject of the sentence is<br />
omitted. And that happens any time when the subject is a pronoun and it is not emphasized.<br />
Table 3: Examples of future tense using Formula 2<br />
‘will stay’ ‘will work’ ‘will go’<br />
Ostaću (I’ll stay) Radiću (I’ll work) Ići ću (I’ll go)<br />
Ostaćeš (you’ll stay) Radićeš (you’ll work) Ići ćeš (you’ll go)<br />
Ostaće (she/he’ll stay) Radiće (she/he’ll work) Ići ćete (s/he’ll go)<br />
Ostaćemo (we’ll stay) Radićemo (we’ll work) Ići ćemo (we’ll go)<br />
Ostaćete (you’ll stay) Radićete (you’ll work) Ići ćete (you’ll go)<br />
Ostaće (they’ll stay) Radiće (they’ll work) Ići će (they’ll go)<br />
©<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic<br />
<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic Language Services<br />
http://www.studyserbian.com
3<br />
FORMULA 3:<br />
PRESENT <strong>TENSE</strong> OF HTETI ‘WANT’ + DA + PRESENT <strong>TENSE</strong> OF <strong>THE</strong><br />
MAIN VERB<br />
Formula 3 is the most common way of expressing the future tense, since you already need to<br />
know how to make the present tense. If this is still hard for you, you may use Formula 1 or 2.<br />
Table 4: Examples of future tense using Formula 3<br />
The example below means ‘I/you/he/… will go’<br />
Person ‘hteti’ da+present tense of ‘ići’ (go)<br />
Ja (I) ću da idem (to go)<br />
Ti (you) ćeš da ideš (to go)<br />
On/ona/ono (he/she/it će da ide (to go)<br />
Mi (we) ćemo da idemo (to go)<br />
Vi (you) ćete da idete (to go)<br />
Oni/one/ona (they) će da idu (to go)<br />
Table 5 below tells you how to say ‘I/you/he/… will be’ using Formula 3.<br />
Table 5: How to say 'will be' using Formula 3<br />
Person hteti Da+present tense of biti<br />
Ja (I) ću da budem<br />
Ti (you) ćeš da budeš<br />
On/ona/ono (he/she/it će da bude<br />
Mi (we) ćemo da budemo<br />
Vi (you) ćete da budete<br />
Oni/one/ona (they) će da budu<br />
Note that the present tense stem of ‘be’ is ‘bud-‘. This is that extra ‘be’ we discussed in the<br />
section about the present tense of irregular verbs.<br />
©<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic<br />
<strong>Larisa</strong> Zlatic Language Services<br />
http://www.studyserbian.com